Friday, September 25, 2015

and those who planned and carried out those illogical and harebrained ideas deserve our utmost contempt. In training one kind of jihadis to kill another kind of jihadis, the US politicians who are bought lock, stock and barrel, by their foreign masters, have wasted millions of taxpayers' money.

From MiddleEastEyeWestern backers end support for Syrian rebels attempting to seize Daraa The rebels' ineffective approach to fighting President Assad's forces is believed to be behind a decision to end support for the offensive - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/western-backers-end-support-syrian-rebels-attempting-seize-daraa-55369890#sthash.dRkm12iS.dpufSouthern Syria’s mainstream opposition has had – and lost – its last chance at forcing Bashar al-Assad’s troops out of the city of Daraa, according to a source close to opposition backers.

A source who was inside the secretive Military Operations Centre (MOC) in Amman during a meeting this week said the opposition’s American and Jordanian supporters have “closed the folder” on any operation to oust Syrian government forces from the capital of Daraa province. The opposition’s at-times chaotic and inept approach was cited as the primary reason behind backers’ frustration.

The city of Daraa has long been a trouble spot in Syria’s south.

For more than four years, Syrian government forces have held about half of the city where Syrian anti-government uprisings first spiralled into brutal violence back in 2011. The mainly secular opposition, a collection of Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigades including the Southern Front group, has launched a series of offensives on the government’s positions in the city, but each time failed to deliver results.

The most recent offensive, dubbed Operation Southern Storm, began on 25 June. It was planned, equipped and directed by the MOC, which is staffed by senior military figures from 14 countries including the US, Europe and the Arab Gulf. The MOC provides approved rebel groups with weapons, ammunition and salaries for fighters, and in return, the MOC directs the actions of the groups it supports

Speaking anonymously as he is not authorised to discuss MOC proceedings, the source said American and Jordanian backers firmly vetoed any future operations against Daraa. Commanders in the field were notified, he said, and told not to bring the subject up again in the coming months.